Sour Grapes. Curse Of The Average Human

It’s deep-seated in our human nature that when stricken with failure, we pretend that victory wasn’t really worth it anyway.

Is this some lame way to save face in a world where we feel inadequate? Or a coping mechanism so that the hurt of defeat is more easily accepted and ignored?

The earliest public recognition of this inhibiting human characteristic was when depicted in a fable by Aesop some two and a half thousand years ago….

Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on a vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked, “oh you aren’t even ripe yet, I don’t need any sour grapes.”

The average and the mediocre fucking love the easy get out that this common attribute provides, and it also helps them with the perfect excuse to never set any aspirations or goals outside of their comfort zones.

My guess is that in Aesop’s day, although significant enough to be portrayed in a Fable, it was nowhere near as prevalent as in the modern day.
Now we see this occurring in our lives all around us, often going unnoticed so it’s regularity…..

The ‘suit’ that misses his promotion but then claims he’s happier in his current role (even though he spends all day fucking moaning about it), because it’s ‘less responsibility’ …

The grossly overweight dude that gives up on his exercise program because he’s ‘comfortable’ in himself just how he is anyway…..

The girl that dreams of running her own business, but after an early setback decides that being employed and working for someone else’s dream is ‘the more secure option’…

It is one of the most damaging and limiting human traits of all when it comes to personal achievement. It locks the user in to a cycle of mediocrity that is almost impossible to escape from. It prevents us from facing up to the hurt of failure, the same hurt that makes us grow, makes us hungry and makes us want to grab life by the balls and do something fucking great. Something that will inspire others, rather than presenting them with another excuse to be just as shit.

Learn to recognize this attribute of the average. Awareness could prevent you falling in to the trap yourself!